February 2005
An acquaintance of mine was in a taxi in Nanjing, China, the other day and out of the clear blue the driver turned around and exclaimed: “I saw your friend shopping on television!”
Needless to say, this acquaintaance immediately became quite nervous and figured there was either a serious language problem or the driver was a few cards short of a full deck, or both, and replied: “You saw my friend shopping on T.V.? How do you know it was my friend?” To which the driver very animatedly countered: “No, no, not shopping – he was hopping, and I saw him not only once but twice!”
Well, yes, I guess I have been doing a lot of hopping lately while breaking 3 Guinness records in China and I have been on national television a few times, but how that driver ever connected his unsuspecting passenger to me will forever remain one of those unfathomable mysteries of life!
I actually never intended to break the stilt-racing record in China. In fact, if it weren’t for two stubborn buddies of mine, I probably never would have broken the stilt record ever, in any country.
As far back as the 1997 American edition of TheGuinness Book of World Records there was a short blurb about me announcing that I intended to break the century-old record that Frenchman Garosain had set in 1892 in which the gentleman had run 8 kilometers (4.97 miles) on stilts in an incredible 42 minutes. Unfortunately, I never got much further than my intentions! I tried on and off for years, building stilts out of wood, aluminum and even carbon fiber, but could never come up with a model that would allow me to run fast enough. Then in 2002, I saw an ad for what looked like the stilts of my dreams. They were made out of aluminum and Kevlar, and they had some spring to them, which allowed for a longer running stride. I met the manufacturer who claimed that someone from the U.S. military had just run a 3-minute test mile in them. (Right, and if you believe that, I know of a bridge that you might be interested in!) I decided to buy them anyway and had great hopes during my initial practices, but whenever I got past 50 yards my legs began to get wobbly. Nothing helped. I finally presumed that the stilts were designed for acrobatic stunts and were too heavy for distance running; so I consigned the space-age toys to the basement along with my pogo boots and bamboo hula hoops.
Then this past September, my buddies suddenly got involved in the project. For no apparent reason, Udar and Homagni decided to take an intense interest in my stilts. Homagni got on the web and spent hours researching other types of stilts and possible running styles. Udar began taking the stilts apart in a local metal working shop and fiddled with the design while still maintaining the Guinness requirement that each stilt be at least 40 inches high. Within a week, these guys had me down at the track completely convinced that I could break the record with some training. They basically shamed me into it! Udar is a stocky, muscular mountain climber who hardly ever runs and whose favorite exercise video features a fellow who explodes unopened beer cans by crushing them with his bare hands. With great deliberation, Udar strapped the stilts on and took off, sprinting around the track like a madman. Okay, maybe it was more of a fast jog than a sprint, and true, he did keel over after 300 yards, but still it was impressive. Stunned, I put the stilts on, and for the first time in more than 7 years I was able to do a circuit of the track at world record pace!
As I got more and more comfortable running with the stilts and aerobically fitter, my friend Vinaya and I began looking for an interesting venue to attempt the record. We discovered that the area of France where the record was set had been extremely marshy and the shepherds used to walk around on stilts all day to avoid getting their shoes muddy. They began having stilt races and it was during this era that Monsieur Garosain ran the 8 kilometers from the city of Bayonne to the city of Biarritz to accomplish his historic feat. Since I was going to China in a couple of weeks and there was no time to visit France, we thought it would be appropriate to attempt the record in Bayonne, New Jersey! Actually, we found a beautiful spot right outside Bayonne on the waterfront in Liberty State Park, facing the Statue of Liberty in all her glory.
The night before the attempt in mid-November was nervewracking. The media was alerted, the permits were in order and the witnesses were lined up. Everything was ready except me! I was exhausted from staying up late for weeks preparing to go on vacation to the Far East for 2 months, my legs felt dead and I just didn’t have any confidence. I normally don’t bother my teacher, Sri Chinmoy, about such trivial things, but I got the opportunity that night to ask his advice. He thought for a moment, then smiled and said: “It is better to wait. You can break the record in China.” I was relieved.
Once in China, I used the extra time to train hard and get into excellent shape. Whenever I went out to practice, the Chinese bystanders seemed to be absolutely fascinated by my new fangled apparatus. I found a scenic, flat, one-mile course by the waterfront in Xiamen, China for the record attempt. I had no idea at the time I chose the course, but the starting point happened to auspiciously begin at an ancient Buddhist temple! With my teacher’s blessings reverberating in my heart, I began my month-long delayed attempt. It turned out to be a deeply fulfilling experience, although it got a little rough at the end. I had to keep up the pace, even though my legs were tired and I began to stumble on the patches of rough brickwork in the road. I knew if I fell the attempt would be over, because I would lose too much time trying to get back up. Fortunately, I was able to stay on my feet and crossed the finish line to the cheers of my friends, including Udar and Homagni, and some of the locals. I managed to complete the 8 kilometers in 39 minutes and 55 seconds, a little more than 2 minutes better than the old mark.
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It was only afterwards that I learned from a reporter that stilt-walking is an ancient Chinese tradition. For hundreds of years stilt-walkers have been an integral part of their Spring Festival parades. No wonder the media picked up the video footage and that energetic cab driver was able to see me “hopping” along on my bouncy stilts. I’m so grateful to Sri Chinmoy for his wise advice, because I’m absolutely sure I was able to give the Chinese people a lot more joy than I could have ever given the distinguished residents of Bayonne, New Jersey!
